what's your background, if i can ask?
creatine is a critical part of our bodies energy system so it shouldn't be a huge shock, and cognitive benefits seem perfectly reasonable consideri...
I'm just a nerd. I dig into things that interest me. I am a certified personal trainer, and the creatine/atp cycle stuff is covered in the course material for that, but I actually just find this stuff fascinating and had learned about it before deciding I wanted to get certified.
Some of my fascination is born out of pure curiosity, but I also try and learn what I can so that I can use that knowledge to improve my own health and avoid doctors visits.
Some of my fascination is born out of pure curiosity, but I also try and learn what I can so that I can use that knowledge to improve my own health and avoid doctors visits.
Follow
@thatguyoverthere yeah I could say the same of some subjects I'm into
from a brief flick through the Wikipedia seems there's a good base of evidence, the sense i get is that it just buffers the ATP cycle for intense exercise?
never sure about this stuff though, the line between marketing and science is blurred in supplement stuff, but looks like it's worth a crack
@thatguyoverthere sweet I'll check it out
tbf if it can add a bump to my workouts I'm into it, any mental improvement would be a bonus as far as I'm concerned
It definitely helps with the workout, both in studies and in my own experience. I was saying before that I don't think there is a threshold of work intensity needed to get an effect, but adding it to your diet may give you access to more intensity because your energy systems don't get exhausted quite as quickly during intense bursts.
@thatguyoverthere then I'm in, do you have any tips or preferences, do you just mix it in water/cofe?
Yeah I usually mix it with water. Some people recommend a loading phase where you take more than the typical serving, but I don't really think that's necessary. Too much creatine can cause diarrhea so listen to your body. You'll also want to make sure and keep your water intake up as your body will want to retain more than without creatine supplementation. In my experience it's not the kind of water retention where your hands feel like balloons. When I first started learning about creatine what I was taught (by people who knew very little) was that it helped steer water into the muscles which reduced cramping. I think this is true, but it's not the main reason creatine is useful since the energy buffering feature is far more critical.
Interestingly it seems there is a myth that creatine may cause cramping. I've never heard this but it's mentioned in the below article which seems worth a read.
> Likewise, most of the literature claims that creatine does not cause cramping. In fact, a few studies show creatine may reduce the risks of muscle cramps.
They link to a study about the reduction of cramps. I don't know if it increases or decreases it. I started using it years ago in my 20s, and I've been off and on throughout my life sense. I very rarely get cramps during or after exercise, and if I do I attribute it to my diet or overtraining.
https://nakednutrition.com/blogs/supplements/creatine-water-retention
Interestingly it seems there is a myth that creatine may cause cramping. I've never heard this but it's mentioned in the below article which seems worth a read.
> Likewise, most of the literature claims that creatine does not cause cramping. In fact, a few studies show creatine may reduce the risks of muscle cramps.
They link to a study about the reduction of cramps. I don't know if it increases or decreases it. I started using it years ago in my 20s, and I've been off and on throughout my life sense. I very rarely get cramps during or after exercise, and if I do I attribute it to my diet or overtraining.
https://nakednutrition.com/blogs/supplements/creatine-water-retention
@thatguyoverthere thanks, I'll let you know how I get on
yeah most supplements don’t really past the sniff test (placebos), but creatine is one that has a decent mass of evidence for it’s efficacy in training. You are right it acts as a buffer, although I am not certain there is a threshold of intensity. I think it’s more if there is bindable phosphor it can occur and allow reuse.
I haven’t read over this entirely yet, but it seems more in line with your particular interest wrt creatine and brain function.
There is a robust and compelling body of evidence supporting the ergogenic and therapeutic role of creatine supplementation in muscle. Beyond these well-described effects and mechanisms, there is literature to suggest that creatine may also be beneficial to brain health (e.g., cognitive processing, brain function, and recovery from trauma). This is a growing field of research, and the purpose of this short review is to provide an update on the effects of creatine supplementation on brain health in humans. There is a potential for creatine supplementation to improve cognitive processing, especially in conditions characterized by brain creatine deficits, which could be induced by acute stressors (e.g., exercise, sleep deprivation) or chronic, pathologic conditions (e.g., creatine synthesis enzyme deficiencies, mild traumatic brain injury, aging, Alzheimer’s disease, depression). Despite this, the optimal creatine protocol able to increase brain creatine levels is still to be determined. Similarly, supplementation studies concomitantly assessing brain creatine and cognitive function are needed. Collectively, data available are promising and future research in the area is warranted.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7916590/